Javier Miley’s inauguration as President of Argentina has led to the question of what kind of president she will have

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — As a right-wing economist Javier Miley After assuming the presidency of Argentina on Sunday, the nation is wondering which version of him will rule: the anti-establishment crusader with the chainsaw. Campaign pathOr the more moderate president-elect who has emerged in recent weeks.

Miley, 53, rose to fame on television with his profanity-filled sermons against what he described as the political class. He parlayed his popularity into a seat in Congress and then, just as quickly, to run for president. The overwhelming victory achieved by the self-proclaimed “anarcho-capitalist” in The primaries are in August It sent shock waves through the political landscape and turned the race on its head.

Argentines are frustrated With the current economic situation – triple-digit inflation, four out of 10 people in poverty, and a plummeting currency – they have proven receptive to strange ideas from abroad to address their problems and transform the nation. He won the November 19 elections The second round is decisive – It dispatched the Peronist political power that had dominated Argentina for decades.

On Sunday morning, Miley took the constitutional oath inside the National Convention building, and outgoing President Alberto Fernandez placed the presidential sash on him. Some of the assembled lawmakers chanted “Freedom!”

As a candidate, Miley pledged to cleanse the political establishment of corruption, remove the central bank he accused of printing money and stoking inflation, and replace the rapidly depreciating peso with the US dollar.

But after his victory, he chose Luis Caputo, the former head of the central bank, to be head of the central bank Minister of Economy An ally of Caputo who heads the bank appears to have halted his much-touted dollarization plans.

Miley has portrayed himself as a willing warrior to confront the encroachment of global socialism, in the mold of former US President Donald Trump Openly admire. But when Miley traveled to the United States last week, he did not visit Mar-a-Lago; Instead, he had lunch with another former American leader, Bill Clinton.

He also sent a diplomat with a long history of working in ongoing climate negotiations COP 28 conference In Dubai, the Argentine newspaper La Nacion reported, despite its insistence on rejecting humanity’s involvement in global warming. He backed away from his plans to abolish the country’s Ministry of Health.

His moderation may stem from pragmatism, given the enormous scale of the challenge he faces, his lack of political experience and his need to cultivate alliances with other parties to implement his agenda in Congress, where his party occupies a third by a large margin in the number of seats.

He chose Patricia Bullrich, a long-time politician and opponent in the first round of the coalition with the second-highest number of seats, to be security minister, and also picked her colleague Louis Petrie as defense minister.

However, there are signs that Miley has neither abandoned his challenge nor his radical plans to dismantle the state.

After taking the oath of office, he intends to break with tradition by delivering his inaugural address not to the assembled lawmakers, but to his supporters gathered outside the National Convention building — with his back turned to the legislature.

He is expected to point to the economic troubles he inherited from outgoing President Alberto Fernandez and announce his first executive measures, including a radical cut in public spending.

Argentina suffers from a massive fiscal deficit, a trade deficit of $43 billion, in addition to a massive debt of $45 billion to the International Monetary Fund, in addition to $10.6 billion owed to multilateral creditors and the private sector by April.

“There’s no money,” is Miley’s common refrain.

He has already said he will abolish multiple ministries, including the ministries of Culture, Environment, Women, Science and Technology. He wants to merge the ministries of social development, labor and education together under one ministry of human capital.

However, Miley is likely to face fierce opposition from Peronist movement lawmakers and the unions she controls, whose members have said they reject the loss of wages.

After his inauguration speech, Miley plans to drive a convertible to the presidential palace and later meet with foreign dignitaries.

Among them will be prominent far-right figures: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban; head of the Spanish Vox party, Santiago Abascal; Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and lawmakers allied with Bolsonaro, including his son.

Miley reportedly sent a message inviting Brazil’s current president, Luiz Inacio Lula da SilvaAfter he described the leftist as clearly corrupt last month during a televised interview and confirmed that if he became president, they would not meet.

Lula sent his Foreign Minister to attend Miley’s inauguration.

He is also expected to visit Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is making his first visit to Latin America since then. Invasion of Russia His country in February 2022.

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Beller reported from Rio de Janeiro